Forgiveness In Chick's Daughter

Onward, patience from all members is a necessity to inherit absolution. Particularly, in Albom’s novel, Chick’s daughter, Maria, finally forgives Chick’s failures, but this is only done after she is given time and space away from him. At the same time, Chick must be patient in trying to reestablish his relationship with Maria. Chick recalls how the last time he is close to Maria is when she is a teenager and he continues to reminisce, “I had fallen out of my daughter’s life...I had sunk so low I had been banished from her wedding. She [Maria] used to love me, she honestly did. She used to run at me when I came home from work… ‘Maria is ashamed of me,’ I finally mumbled” (Albom 88). Decades later, he finally renews his relationship with Maria
by overcoming his alcohol addiction as “He sold his mother’s home in Pepperville beach and directed the proceeds to his daughter. He later moved to an apartment to be near her [Maria]…[they had] Saturday morning ‘donut runs’ in which they caught up on events of the week over coffee and crullers” (196). At the time of Chick’s abandonment of his daughter, Chick finds a desire to turn his life around, and he willingly does so. Meanwhile, throughout the decades when Maria is separated from Chick, she learns to cope and overcome her father’s actions, which allows her to develop and mature as a person. Consequently, her growth in this time translates to her ability to forgive Chick. Overall, the two are able to rekindle their relationship over time through forgiveness; this process is actualized because both parties concurrently show patience. If only one party is patient or tolerant of the other person, forgiveness ceases to exist as Chick would be cautious to be a father figure again given his past mistakes, just as Maria would be skeptical in allowing Chick into her life again. Therefore, the events contributed by all participating parties in the act of being patient with each other is necessary for achieving forgiveness; this unity and relational accommodations are mandatory in the execution of forgiveness. Next, the extensive forty-three-year duration of the apartheid from 1948-1991 allows racial affliction to reach its peak, and it is in this peak that mankind finally recognizes the inhumanity of segregation. During the apartheid, citizens of South Africa are forced to be patient and consequently more willing to forgive each other because time allows logical and thorough thinking to surface through analyzing and making sense of this racial separation. Then, upon this comprehension, forgiveness is able to prosper, which is exemplified in the following:
The road to the end of Apartheid did not occur overnight and while hope always remained, it would take decades of pressure and activism before the tide would turn. Mandela’s own journey involved 20 years of activism in the African National Congress pressing the agenda and challenging the powerful structures that had existed for centuries. (Actbennington) Furthermore, the act of reconciliation is restored during the 1994 multi-racial presidential elections. It is the apartheid’s long continuation that allows humans to comprehend the authentic wickedness and regressions in this discriminant system. In turn, this fuels a desire to put an end to this government policy. Without this lengthy forty-three year duration of the apartheid, Afrikaners would continue to act superior to black citizens because the consequences of their actions would never appear - being the political inconveniences and the financial inefficiencies in implementing apartheid policies. Likewise, the victims of apartheid would never be open to forgiving their commandants, but rather seek vengeance. Thus, the period of the apartheid gives everyone time to be patient.
This self-control and restraint ultimately must be in accordance with each other, considering the fact that forgiveness is unattainable if one longs revenge, or if one does not fully comprehend the ramifications of immoral actions. Ultimately, this consensus from both parties is required to accomplish forgiveness. Similarly, in Albom’s novel and in Mandela’s misery during the apartheid, forgiveness is gained in both cases despite reaching an all-time low or breaking point in their lives. In both cases, during their time period of being patient where Chick and Maria are attempting to redeem their relationship, and the length of the apartheid, everyone reaches rock bottom. When Chick discovers that Maria did not invite him to her wedding, he notes that this is his tipping point, which drives him to attempt to commit suicide. Similarly, South Africa faces one of the worst racial segregations of their era, as it is the darkest and most atrocious fraction of the country’s history. Thereupon, the power of unity in forgiveness is displayed because both cases are testaments to how forgiveness is certainly possible in spite of enduring record lows, so long as it is a relational event. Distinctively, the two instances are in positions of varying
weights and enormities. Particularly for Maria and Len, the course of their patience only causes direct agony for those two people. Meanwhile, the span of the apartheid comes at the expensive of human lives, mass social division, and the degradation of an entire race. Overall, these varying magnitudes of what is at stake in the two situations, verify the differences between the two cases. Next, Chick’s mother, Posey, is able to forgive her son for dropping out of college because Chick previously warns her of this possibility in potentially pursuing a baseball career instead of attending college. At first, when Chick informs his mom that Len is suddenly watching his games, she asks Chick to do her one favour, to not allow Len to impact or impair his education. Moreover, when Chick asks his mom to drop out of college to become a professional baseball player, Chick recollects, “‘Absolutely not!’ were her [Posey] words. And I absolutely ignored her” (Albom 132). Chick decides to chase his baseball dream and he does so without his mother’s approval, “She seemed stunned. Her voice was flat. She asked what kind of clothes I had. What was I doing for food? ‘Is it safe, the play you’re staying?’ she said. ‘Safe? I guess.’... Then silence. ‘Mom, I can always go back to school.’ This time the silence was longer...I don’t suppose I could have broken my mother’s hearts any more if I tried” (133). Posey’s display of patience through her tolerance that shows no anger, but rather love for her son in a time of disappointment, epitomizes the essence of forgiveness. Furthermore, Chick shows patience in telling Posey about his future by warming her up to the idea of his career. Had Chick abruptly declare this news on her, Posey’s reaction would be short of understanding, but more angry and sporadic. Altogether, Chick’s patience allows forgiveness to occur more easily. This correlating act of patience from Chick and Posey, display the need for a required harmony to achieve clemency because only having one party be patient, results in different comprehensions of their shared event. Resultantly, this does not lead to forgiveness or even an understanding of each other. Thus, indicating how forgiveness must be a relational event. Next, Mandela’s time in confinement is vital in his ability to forgive his country for denouncing his race, just as South Africa needs time to warm up to the idea of racial equality to allow Mandela to become their president. Specifically, Sylvester Monroe, a reporter who met Mandela the year he is free from incarceration, says, “But perhaps it is safe to say that without that time in prison, he [Mandela] would have been different.... Because what prison helped Mandela understand was that even a black president who had been denied full citizenship in his country could not let hate -- even the anger that hate begot -- have the last word” (Monroe). Then, South Africa enters a post-apartheid era a year after Mandela’s release from imprisonment: ...lifting of the ban of the African National Congress (ANC) and other liberation movements led to a protracted series of negotiations out of which emerged a democratic constitution and the first free election in the country's history….Following Mandela's release from prison in February 1990, intense negotiations began...which featured a commitment to end the violence [surrounding race]. (Unit 6)